South Africa closing in on online gambling regulation

[The Buzz]

A review commission in South Africa has asked the country's parliament to regulate online gambling. The review commission on the South African gambling industry told MPs that "that all forms of online gambling, including poker and all betting, should be brought into the regulatory fold and made legal."

From the Independent Online:

“The big elephant in the room is internet gambling. The danger is that with the offer of the carrot, it may grow unexpectedly. But already any one of us can log on at night and place hundreds of bets,” Stephen Louw, one of the commissioners, told MPs.

The five-member commission’s recommendations include offering a limited number of initial licences, advertising rights for these licence holders, a bigger role for banks in enforcement mechanisms and national regulations to cover all forms on online gambling, whether from a computer or a cellphone with web access.

The recommendations follow Italy’s example. That country has issued 200 online gambling licences and the regulatory agency e-mails users who have entered unlicensed sites, warning them they would forfeit all consumer protection.

[david_tamworth]

A lot of countries around the world will probably adopt this same model. It makes sense.

[cass]

Should online gambling be legalized and properly regulated in South Africa it's not only good news for the economy as a whole but for South African affiliates as well. Let's hope SA politicians don't drag their feet on this one again.

Internet casinos

[Joan Digweed]

pretty good model. If it is adopted in South Africa, there will be only good for the economy of this country.